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Scientific Publications: Free for All? – the latest Report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee – provides enthusiastic support for the British Library’s plans to establish a national digital knowledge resource to support science and technology.

The Committee’s Report concludes that the current model for scientific publishing is unsatisfactory for both libraries and users. Libraries face major technological and organisational challenges in managing the growing number of digital materials. In addition, they are struggling to acquire the material their users need against a background of growing research output and rising prices for scientific journals.

Highlighting the British Library’s importance in underpinning UK scientific and technological research, the Committee argues: ‘The British Library has a crucial role to play in the preservation of digital publications, both strategically and practically’. In its recommendations the Committee strongly supports the Library’s efforts to secure funding to develop the infrastructure for an effective national digital archive, and highlights the danger of inaction: ‘Gaps of up to 60% in the deposit of electronically-delivered publications, including STM journals, represent a significant breach in the intellectual record.’

The Committee's findings echo the Government's own recognition of the need to develop a digital knowledge resource to support research and innovation – outlined in its ten-year investment framework for science and innovation, published alongside the 2004 Spending Review.

‘The Government will work with interested funders and stakeholders to consider the national e-infrastructure (hardware, networks, communications technology) necessary to deliver an effective system. These funders and stakeholders include the British Library, which plays an important role in supporting scientific research and potential, including providing benefits to smaller businesses in the UK through access to science, engineering and technology information sources… as a first step OST will take a lead in taking forward discussion and development of proposals for action and funding, drawing in other funders and stakeholders as necessary.’ (Science & Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014, paragraph 2.25)

Dr Ian Gibson, Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee, comments: ‘We need to secure a national digital archive now. The British Library is well placed to manage this project. It is vital for the good of UK science and technology that funds are made available to the Library for this purpose.’

The British Library recognises that managing and preserving digital scientific information is essential to UK business innovation and economic competitiveness. The UK government invests some £7 billion annually in scientific research and development across all departments whilst the UK’s e-Science budget for 2001-2006 will total £213 million. Excellent digital management and preservation presents an opportunity to convert some of this expenditure into capital – in the form of an efficient, rich knowledge base, which supports and generates new science. For further information on the Library’s plans to establish the infrastructure for a national digital archive contact Valerie McBurney at the Library’s Press Office (see details above).

The British Library welcomes the Report’s additional recommendations relating to libraries, in particular:
> Support for the funding of library acquisitions budgets. (Recommendations 37-38)
> Recognition and support for the British Library's document supply service, which provides ‘an efficient and cost-effective method of providing access to articles in scientific journals.' (Recommendation 5)
> Recommendations relating to digital Legal Deposit. For background information on the Legal Deposit Libraries Act see: www.bl.uk/cgi-bin/press.cgi?story=1382
> Speedy action on the establishment of the Legal Deposit Advisory Panel to allow work on regulations for the legal deposit of digital publications to begin as soon as possible. (Recommendations 77-78)
> Allocation of funding to allow the Legal Deposit Libraries to establish a secure network for digital legal deposit materials. (Recommendation 79)
> Additional funding for the Legal Deposit Libraries to undertake retrospective gap-filling in the acquisition of UK electronic publications. (Recommendation 81)

What the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee says:
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee concludes that the current model for scientific publishing is unsatisfactory. An increase in the volume of research output, rising prices and static library budgets mean that libraries are struggling to purchase subscriptions to all the scientific journals needed by their users.

The Report recommends that all UK higher education institutions establish institutional repositories on which their published output can be stored and from which it can be read, free of charge, online. It also recommends that Research Councils and other Government funders mandate their funded researchers to deposit a copy of all of their articles in this way.

The Committee concludes that the creation of institutional repositories is an important first step towards a more radical change in the way that scientific papers are published. Early indications suggest that the author–pays publishing model could be viable and the Committee remains unconvinced by many of the arguments mounted against it. Nonetheless, this Report concludes that further experimentation is necessary, particularly to establish the impact that a change of publishing models would have on learned societies and in respect of the “free rider” problem. In order to encourage such experimentation the Report recommends that the Research Councils each establish a fund to which their funded researchers can apply should they wish to pay to publish.

The Report criticises the UK Government for failing to respond to issues surrounding scientific publications in a coherent manner. The Committee is not convinced that it would be ready to deal with any changes to the publishing model and calls for the formulation of a strategy as a matter of urgency.

The preservation of digital material is an expensive process that poses a significant technical challenge. The Report recommends that the British Library receives sufficient funding to enable it to carry out this work. Government needs to start work on new regulations for the legal deposit of non–print publications immediately.

The market for scientific publications is international. The UK cannot act alone. For this reason the Committee recommends that the UK Government act as a proponent for change on the international stage and lead by example. This will ultimately benefit researchers across the globe.

Chairman of the Committee, Dr Ian Gibson, said “Publishers are feathering their nests with big profits whilst scientific journals are becoming less and less affordable. Government has its head in the sand: it’s about time that it landed in the in-tray of the Ministers in question. Instead of bashing all the alternatives, commercial publishers should be asked to justify the current publishing process they use. The Open Access movement needs to iron out the teething problems with the author-pays model. It’s public money that oils the cogs of the publishing machine and we want to make sure that it’s well spent.”

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House of Commons Science and Technology Committee